Enter dates

Hotel Highlights

Boho-chic interiors and your own in-room guitar

Stumptown Coffee served up in the lobby

Marvellously meaty restaurant from Spotted Pig chefs

Overview

WINNER: HOTTEST HOTEL BAR – SMITH HOTEL AWARDS 2013

Bursting onto the NYC boutique-hotel scene with a thrum of guitar strings and a bohemian shrug, Ace Hotel New York is one for the creatives, with turntables in rooms, art-lined walls and a youthful air of hipster chic.

Our favourite rooms

The higher you go, the better the view – you can glimpse the Empire State Building from the upper storeys. Ask for one overlooking pretty 29th Street rather than busy Broadway – 414 fits the bill, and includes a huge double-doored bathroom, a proper loafer’s sofa and a fab tweed retro chair. For a boho New-York-apartment stay, book one of the nine Lofts on the corners of the building. 411 comes with beautiful bay windows gaze down on the city streets, artfully rusted steel-topped coffee tables surrounded by curvy sofas, dining tables to seat six, and palatial bathrooms with freestanding baths and separate showers. Budget-conscious families or friends travelling together can go for one of the Deluxe Doubles (try 415), which have two beds (one king-size, one queen).

Packing tips

Bring your muse – you’ll find a Gibson guitar in most rooms and a stack of blank sheet music to scribble down your compositions.

Also

Take advantage of the lobby photobooth to capture the end of a night spent listening to lobby-rocking DJs or sipping cocktails in the John Dory Oyster Bar.

Children

Welcome, with free cots for babies, and roll-away beds for older kids (US$45 a night). There’s a children’s menu in the restaurant and bikes and strollers are available for tots.

Eco&dash;friendly

The restaurant’s food is all locally sourced, and there’s a recycling policy in place for wood, glass, metal and plastic.

Food & Drink

Hotel Restaurant

The Breslin (named after Ace’s previous hotel incarnation) showcases the nose-to-tail culinary carnality of Spotted Pig founders April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman. Taking its style cues from low-key 19th-century bars and saloons, the restaurant is rich in mahogany and period detailing, with distressed green leather upholstery, reclaimed wood floors and, given the meaty menu, an appropriately masculine atmosphere. Pull up one of the royal blue or candy apple green quilted leather stools lining the old school bar at the John Dory Oster Bar. This throwback dining den is an homage to the shucking shacks of the past. Cocktails are crafted by the master of the shaker, Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey fame. There's a Stumptown coffee shop in the lobby, too.

Hotel Bar

Resembling stage set swiped from Broadway, the Ace Hotel Bar in the far corner of the lobby is decked out like a room from classic Park Avenue apartment, with panelled walls, distressed Chesterfields, and books galore. DJs drop in from time to time.

Last orders

The lobby bar winds down at 2am.

Room service

Breslin’s full menu is available day and night.

Smith Insider

Dress code

Local Guide

Worth getting out of bed for

Madison Square Park is the nearest patch of greenery, offering not only sun-basking space and mini-rambles, but also a packed calendar of art exhibits, open-air concerts, readings and kids’ events. There's nothing musty or dusty about New Museum at 235 Bowery (+1 212 219 1222), which exhibits creations by off-the-radar artists, including works in digital media.

Local restaurants

Ace Hotel’s own restaurateur, Brit chef April Bloomfield is also the brains behind celebrated NYC gastropub The Spotted Pig(+1 212 620 0393) at 11th and Greenwich. Here, she presents a mouthwatering nose-to-tail menu with a smattering of seafood, drawing on the best of British and Italian culinary tradition. For an equally carnivorous adventure – this time French – make reservations at Resto and share one of the signature 34oz cotes du bouef. Head over to BLT Fish (+1 212 691 8888) on West 17th for a diner-style fish-and-chip basket in the ground-floor Fish Shack, or opt for the more elegant environs of the main restaurant upstairs. It’s only open for dinner and attracts shoals of people, so be sure to book. For Italian bar-style dining, great pastries and delicious gelato, secure a spot at a communal table in Taralluci e Vino (+1 212 228 5400) in Union Square. Though its name sounds like an obscenity, Momofuku, on 171 First Avenue, serves up heavenly fare, including peerless pizza pie and flavour-bomb noodles. Hudson Common (+1 212 554 6217), housed within the Hudson Hotel at 356 West 58th Street, is designed in imitation of an Ivy League cafeteria; the stylish space is kitted out with long communal tables and red brick walls. Chef Shea Gallante keeps critically acclaimed Ciano(+1 212 982 8422) in the Flatiron district interesting with a daily-changing menu. It’s all about the ingredients with its dishes, with a focus on sustainable, local offerings. And there are some great eco-friendly details in the eatery itself, such as repurposed wood from a farmhouse. Intimate and relaxed there’s a warm ambiance from decor that includes exposed brick walls, a central fireplace and warm-hued leather banquette seating. Sexy, low-lit Boqueria (+1 212 255 4160), on West 19th Street in the Flatiron District, serves up crispy croquettes, matured Serrano ham and ice-cold white sangria.

Local bars

No red ropes, no fussy doormen, no hype, just a low-key, friendly atmosphere, a wide-ranging wine list and a cracking martini at Black Door (+1 212 645 0215) on West 26th.

Local cafés

Named after the owner’s pet turtle, Penelope (+1 212 481-3800) at Lexington and 30th, is a real find. This bar, bakery and café is the essential stop-off for home-style comfort foods such as Nutella-stuffed French toast, mac and cheese, and ladle-loads of home-made meatballs. No cards, just cash.

Ace Hotel New York

Planes

The nearest airport to the hotel is La Guardia – fly from London Heathrow with United Airlines (www.unitedairlines.co.uk). Newark and JFK are under an 45 minutes away, too, if the traffic is kind.

Trains

Grand Central Station and Penn Station are both within driving and walking distance of the hotel. You'll be able to board Amtrak (www.amtrak.com) services to other destinations all over the USA. Penn Station will also get you out to the Hamptons on the Long Island Rail Road (www.lirr.org).

Automobiles

Taxis and public transportation options are plentiful, so a car is not necessary. However, if you do have your own wheels, parking is available at a cost of $55 for a car and $65 for an SUV per day.

Reviews

Anonymous review

I’ll level with you. When I first told Mr Smith I was taking him to the Ace Hotel, his response was muted. ‘Two words’, he said, clicking through the website. ‘Bunk’ and ‘bed.’ Another mouseclick. ‘Also it’s in an up-and-coming area’. Universal real-estate shorthand for a zip code that spells L05ER. ‘Relax,’ I purred, ‘I…

Ace Hotel New York

Anonymous review by Emily Kerrigan, Foodie reporter

I’ll level with you. When I first told Mr Smith I was taking him to the Ace Hotel, his response was muted. ‘Two words’, he said, clicking through the website. ‘Bunk’ and ‘bed.’ Another mouseclick. ‘Also it’s in an up-and-coming area’. Universal real-estate shorthand for a zip code that spells L05ER. ‘Relax,’ I purred, ‘It’s actually boutique. And I’ve booked us into a deluxe’. But a voice within did wonder if this boutique bolthole – however cool – would turn out to be tucked away in a shifty Manhattan side-pocket. And bunk beds? In our time, Mr Smith and I have shared dorms in Chengdu and cold showers in Cusco, but we’re longer in the tooth, and NYC is meant to be a romantic minibreak…

So why the Ace? I like lots of things about New York, including how areas are named after a geographical description (Upper West Side, Lower East Side) or given a neat acronym (SoHo for South of Houston, NoLiTa for North of Little Italy). You know where you stand and it kind of acts like a satnav should you head a few blocks in the wrong direction. I’d booked us into the Ace, largely because it was in a newly nicknamed neighbourhood (NoMad – No Man’s Land North of Madison), not far from the Empire State Building, nudging the Flatiron District. ‘I read that up-and-coming NoMad will soon be hot property, I assert, stepping out of our yellow cab and hoping that the owners of the Ace have got it right. And whaddayaknow? We walk into the lobby and it’s instantly obvious they know exactly what they’re doing.

A landmark 1900s building (originally the Hotel Breslin), conceals rooms at wide-ranging price tags: the Ace being a canny product of our financial times. Yep, that includes Bunk (credit crunch), as well as Deluxe (credit card), the beauty being that whichever you stay in, Ace’s communal areas ooze ‘no expense spared’. We’re straight into the grand low-lit reception with its period mosaic tiles, old-school wood panelling and towering pillars. The corner bar conjures the library of a traditional Park Avenue apartment, complete with distressed Chesterfields, twinkling chandeliers, stacked bookcases, and even a touch of taxidermy. But that’s where traditional features end: the Ace is all about big bold modern graphic design. Quirky fonts pop up everywhere, from the oversized black-and-white type of the corridor signposts to the street-style stencilling on the walls. Even the key cards are covered in large, shouty writing. It’s all very youthful, intended as a home from home for creatives and would-be rockstars (some rooms come with Music Hall turntables and boxes of old vinyl, others have Gibson guitars, blank sheet music and chalkboards. Well, you never know when you’ll need to scribble that score.) Suite furnishings are a lottery and I’m secretly happy to skip the teenage-boy-fantasy guitar scenario.

It’s all pretty low-key, but the graphic designers have still been busy. Pop Art motifs emblazon a hairdryer bag and ironing board. Little lettering on coat hangers whisper, ‘You look good in that’ – especially welcome after an eight-hour flight. An exercise in sleek minimalism, the walls to our room are white, the lamps over the king-size bed are black and angular, and an open clothes rail is fashioned from exposed pipes in the petite-but-chic tiled bathroom. And for all its industrial edges, boy, is it ever comfy. I rejoice in each high-end brand unearthed: hip Rudy’s Barbershop products in the drench shower, a soft Pendleton blanket on the bed, and two Wings + Horn hooded bathrobes to boot. Mr Smith finds an Ace Survival Manual telling us how to access free WiFi and the nearest ATM. User-friendly extras are everywhere – like the option to review your room bill via your flatscreen TV, or the PC stations in the corridor where you can check-in for your return flight online and print boarding passes. The Ace hotel couldn’t be more helpful if it tried.

And – oh my! – what foodie pedigree the minibar has. Taza stoneground chocolate, steep.com tea in matchboxes and, brilliantly, packs of Korean pot noodle for a kitsch late-night snack. Smith opens the industrial-looking refrigerator. Another frisson in the room-design roulette? The possibility of a Smeg fridge. We don’t get one, but who cares when we’ve got hip miniatures of Hendrick’s gin, 10 Cane rum and Crop organic vodka. The teeny trendy bottles look almost too good to open. Almost. Our body clocks think it’s two in the morning but the draw of a nightcap is too strong – we head for the lobby bar.

Stars and Stripes may dominate the wall but the soundtrack is straight out of Manchester circa 1980, all Joy Division and Johnny Marr riffs. The joint’s in full swing, oiling a crowd of fabulous-looking 30-somethings. So boxfresh is the Ace (it opened a few weeks before our visit) that the lobby restaurant is still under wraps, but there’s already a buzz about the Breslin. April Bloomfield’s name will be above the door (she of hallowed West Village gastropub, the Spotted Pig, fame). The barman also reveals that the first NYC outposts of Seattle-based Rudy’s Barbershop is on its way as is Portland’s Stumptown gourmet coffee emporium. Then we order more drinks. And we chat some more.

We wake implausibly early bearing the scars of jetlag and wine flu but the Ace comes to our rescue in the form of a thoughtfully provided pack of helpineedhelp.com aspirin (each quirky white pill stamped with ‘Help!’). I throw open the window to peer at 29th at Broadway then we head down for our croissant breakfast with Tiffany (it turns out that that’s the receptionist’s name – too perfect.) Outside it’s smack-in-the-face, summer-in-the-city humid. There’s a subway on 28th that’ll take us down to Soho or up to Central Park, but we opt to stroll with iced lemonade. There’s so much to see and do. We wander the High Line, the recently opened park built into the old elevated railroad high above Chelsea, hit the Soho sales, and check out the New Museum at Bowery. And the restaurants! We queue with half the city for addictive steamed pork buns at restaurant-of-the-moment, Momofuku, we hit Co for slices of peerless pizza pie.

Later, it's time to play Spot-the-Celebrity: we glimpse Barbra Streisand on Fifth Avenue then share a lift with Madame Bonkers herself, Heather Mills (and resist the urge to mention rat's milk which she once suggested would help save the planet - yes, really, Google it). And later still, we hit the bar at 230 Fifth. It’s on the 21st-floor, a short skip from the Ace, and offers 360-degree views of Manhattan – great for Kodak views of the Empire State Building but oddly soulless, so we debunk to the rooftop pool bar at Soho House. Here we gawp, glass in hand, at eye-popping electric storms exploding overhead. And suddenly, tragically, in a flash of lightning, our jaunt comes to an end. At daybreak when we check out, the hotel plays its final ace card, discretely slipping the bill under our door with a handwritten note hoping to see us again. It drives home just how personable and professional the place is. Nevermind ‘up and coming’, we decide in the cab back to JFK, NoMad’s Ace Hotel has well and truly arrived.

The Guestbook

Whenever you book a stay at a Smith hotel with us, we'll invite you to review it when you get back. Read what other Smith members have to say about Ace Hotel New York in the Guestbook below…

Danielle

BlackSmith

Stayed on
15 Jun 2014

We loved

The Breslin restaurant downstairs was brilliant. We really loved the little extras in the bathrooms: robes, full sized shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

Don’t expect

Like all NYC hotels the rooms are tiny but these guys have made great use of the small space they do have.

Rating:
9/10 stars

Janine

BlackSmith

Stayed on
4 Apr 2014

We loved

I liked the brilliant atmosphere in the reception area, fantastic comfy beds and really helpful staff.

Don’t expect

I would've liked less salt in the food and more light in the bedroom.

Rating:
7/10 stars

Graham

GoldSmith

Stayed on
15 Mar 2014

We loved

It's a fun hotel in a central location with easy access to the airports (particularly if you're not overburdened with luggage).

Don’t expect

Their laid back approach is good, but if there's anything wrong you may need to remind them several times!

Sarah

BlackSmith

Stayed on
14 Feb 2014

We loved

The hotel has a cool vibe; it is very busy day and night. The W 29th St rooms really do have a view of the Empire State Building. The Breslin restaurant is good for breakfast and dinner. The room mini bar is a well-stocked full-size Smeg fridge.

Rating:
10/10 stars

Sue

BlackSmith

Stayed on
4 Sep 2013

We loved

I loved the hotel and its retro appearance. I had a mini room and expected it to be smaller than it was. Everything in the room looked amazingly retro and it was well stocked with mini bar, nibbles, kettle, iron, ironing board, hairdryer, shower gel, shampoo etc a radio and the only modern looking thing was a flat screen TV on the wall. The staff were always friendly and helpful. The lobby bar was always lively and noisy and if I wanted a quieter drink I went to the other bar which was always busy as well but not so loud or dark and could sit at the bar and order food, which was very good. I checked out the gym which was small but had enough equipment in to keep a serious fitness addict happy – I didn't use it, no time and too much walking around the city. It was such a great central location as well; I would definitely stay there again.

Rating:
10/10 stars

Price information

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